Musician Releases New Single as Experimental ‘Bronze’ App

Screengrab: Wired UK

Musician and ex-Golden Silvers frontman Gwilym Gold has released his first solo single, “Flesh Freeze,” on a new downloadable app format called Bronze.

Founded on an algorithm that fluctuates the sections of a song around a waveform, Bronze is the first releasable format that alters the musical components of a song on each listen. Invented by Gold, along with producer Lexxx (Wild Beasts, Björk) and a team of scientists from Goldsmiths University, Bronze is “non-interactive format in which recorded material is transformed in real time, generating a unique and constantly evolving interpretation of the song on each listen.”

In practical terms, Bronze consists of a volume control, Play/Pause button and the track’s artwork — clicking through to an information box. “Flesh Freeze” is roughly 3 minutes, 30 seconds long; it is hypnotic, electronic with Gold’s detached vocals. Each play of the track is unique: For example, the lyrics may not be performed in the same order, the drumbeat may be missing or enhanced, the song may begin or end at a different point.

Gold notes that the chances of hearing the same version of the track versus the chances of winning the lottery “don’t even compare.” There is no way to capture a previous version — the song exists “in a similar way to a live performance.”

According to Lexxx, the software is intelligent and will learn from itself.

[partner id=”wireduk”]”From my point of view, as a producer, when I’m trying to create a journey through a song, a static version is far simpler — as you use things that you’ve spent years learning — the way things build in certain ways. That was one of the real challenges with the software. For example, if it starts a really complex arrangement, you don’t want that to be followed by something just dropping out completely. You want a similar kind of journey every time. It would have been very easy to say, ‘It’s different every time,’ and for it to an abstract form of the song. To try and make software musical is, for me, the holy grail.”

Bronze is currently available in Mac desktop version, with iPhone and Windows versions soon to come. Support for Android and PC will be completed as soon as possible.

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